What's Left of Us - SYOC
by SamanthaTheWriter
Summary: The world as we know it is gone. And, in the midst of everything, what everyone has had to endure, is your OC. Stakes are high, and people will die, but beware: the dead aren't the only ones out for blood. Now accepting OCs and Villains!
1. Chapter 1

Hi guys!

I've been working on a bunch of stories to post (so…many…options…), and I've decided to try something new. If you know where we are, this is the Walking Dead aisle, where you can deposit your OC! These characters will meet up with each other and form their little band, but keep in mind they do **not** meet the canon group, so it will completely revolve around your (or our) OCs! It won't be like a "first come, first serve", but there will be a time limit so please, if you're interested, submit!

Here's the form for everyone concerned (I put a * next to all those required):

**Name*:**

**Age*:**

**Gender*:**

**Occupation:**

**Appearance*:**

**Outfit:**

**Personality*:**

**Role in a Group* (What they're good at, etc…):**

**Skills (Strengths)*:**

**Weaknesses (Fears)*:**

**Family members (Dead, Alive, or Missing):**

**Relationships:**

**Weapons (I don't mind them having a machine gun or a heavy weapon, but please explain how they obtained this, and the number of bullets cannot surpass 250)*:**

**Bio (History)*:**

**Other (Anything else you'd like to add, just in case):**

So, I suppose I should insert my OC, just so you guys get what I'm expecting.

**Name*: **Tess Blevins

**Age*: **24

**Gender*: **Female

**Occupation: **College Student, but she worked part time at a diner

**Appearance*: **Tess is tall for her age, able to stare most people dead in the eye with no straining for eye contact, and she's bony with a slim frame, which gives most the impression that she isn't eating as much as she should be. Able to be agile and flexible when she wants, Tess relies on her wits and strength to get by others, preferring to make a last stand rather than run from a fight. With dark mocha, almost-black-but-not-quite hair that falls under her chin but above her shoulders, it tangles easily and she is constantly pushing it out of her face to see. She's scraped and bruised; most wounds temporary but some lingering as permanent battle scars. There is a bloody scratch dancing along her cheekbone, which usually throbs whenever she smiles, turning her grin into a grimace. Her skin is light, a little tanned but not so much that it looks unnatural or odd against the cuts that crisscross her arms with deathly pale marks. Tess always wears her traditional smirk, which comes so easily to her and either aggravates or arouses others, always one or the other. She has creamy hazel eyes that always appear observant or daring and notice everything with keen accuracy. She's strong and well-toned, and can have a dark side, with a cold smile that twists her pretty face into something dangerous. Not afraid to pull a punch or snap a few bones to get her way, Tess isn't your conventional beauty, but she's certainly up there.

**Outfit: **A burgundy red t-shirt that fits her nicely, falling comfortably to her waist, tattered and torn at the bottom with a few makeshift stiches holding the shirt together, along with beige khakis that go to her knees. There is a ratty pair of sneakers slipped loosely over her bare feet, and a watch fastened on her left hand, with a leather strap and the glass cracked into two pieces. A silver, plastic headband holds her hair back, and presses stiffly against the fold and crook of her ear. There is always a tiny bottle of pepper spray tucked away in her pockets, and a switchblade safely hidden at the bottom of her shoe.

**Personality*: **Tess is a tough gal, willing to do the things others are afraid of to survive. I wouldn't call her heartless, more so hardened, with nothing really to look forward to other than another handful of days to live. Her "take it or leave it" attitude is a little shady, and she works with the darker people in life to get what she needs. One false move and she won't hesitate to slit your throat, and she is easy to turn on others if she feels it isn't right. Although she has a sketchy moral coding, she does have virtues and standards to meet in order to keep sane. She's had a lot going for her, and after a while she just gave up on humanity, but was too stubborn to commit suicide, considering herself a coward if she tried. Her determination and stubbornness can be both a good and bad thing depending on whose end you're on, with her brave, bold nature clashing with authority. She's a loner, and acts as if she doesn't care about anyone or anything, but she's really not like that, only pretends to be so that she can protect herself, using her sharp tongued insults as a weak shield to veil her fear. Her sarcastic behavior and tendency to curse has an odd humor to it, and Tess can prove to be an amazing friend…if you don't get on her bad side.

**Role in a Group* (What they're good at, etc…): **Always in for a fight, she's capable of herself and goes on solitary trips to clear her head, whether it's for supply runs or perimeter checks. She's horrible at sitting still with nothing to do, and nursing the young, generally caring for others, so she keeps to herself and makes one thing clear: if you stay out of her way, she won't bother with you.

**Skills (Strengths)*: **Tess is useful with weapons, having learned to adapt to using knives and guns to defend herself. She can fight, and is athletic enough to break a few bones. The way she's able to stare a person, dead in the eyes, and put a bullet clean through their skull a moment later is not for most people. Her intelligence is above average, having received fairly good grades in school, although nothing phenomenal. Tess is a smooth talker when negotiating or persuading others, and can insult or fuel other's anger easily, although that's not necessarily a good thing. She's also good at understand how to survive in the wild, often camping with her father at night and staring into the stars, with him teaching her how to maintain simple tasks like tying a knot and starting a fire.

**Weaknesses (Fears)*: **Tess will not hesitate to kill you if she believes you are lying to her, and she has difficulty trusting anyone, making it nearly impossible to break down her walls and befriend her. She's not incredibly good at talking with people, and prefers to be alone, detaching herself from others. She's actually insecure, also, so if you can berate or condemn her enough she'll just snap and come after you, attacking for all it's worth. It's not easy for her to make small talk or be charismatic, so most attempts at conversation fall short. And if she's dead set on something, she will not give up, ever, even if her cause is unjust or unreasonable.

**Family members (Dead, Alive, or Missing): **Parents (Mom, Stepdad): Dead, Andrew (brother, aged 32): Dead, Joshua (brother, aged 35): Dead, Cali (white German shepherd, dog): Alive, still traveling with (will explain in story).

**Relationships: **None. Tess doesn't think she has time for something as silly as "love" in a world where your priorities are as simplistic as food and water, so she's not looking for anybody to dedicate herself to. (May change later, not sure yet.)

**Weapons (I don't mind them having a machine gun or a heavy weapon, but please explain how they obtained this, and the number of bullets cannot surpass 250)*: **Pepper spray (in pocket), switchblade (in shoe), and a Sig PRO (gun, holstered), which she obtained from her father, who bought the gun after their house was broken into by a gang of thieves and Tess and her mother were home alone and unable to defend themselves.

**Bio (History)*: **Tess grew up with a loving family, her mother, a blonde, young lady with a kind smile, father, with a pair of big, soft eyes hidden behind a pair of folk glasses, and two elder brothers, who often picked on her, being the youngest and only female child. However, when Tess got older and her brothers got into high school, her parents began to argue, eventually getting so bad it would end in shattered plates and screaming fits. Her father and mother, however, still loved their children, refusing to talk to each other but tending to their kids affectionately. Tess, who was six at the time, Andrew being a freshman and Joshua a senior, was in a car accident when her father was driving her home from a school play, the young girl surviving the crash but her father, who had no seatbelt on, dying in the accident. It traumatized Tess, who believed it was her fault for his death and hating her mother for remarrying David, a plump, well-off man with a jolly attitude and a bubbly laugh. She began to invest herself into her schoolwork, studying and getting into college. When the dead began rising, the first thing Tess did pack up and leave for an airport, hoping to contact her brothers on the way and meeting up with her family there. However, her brothers never picked up, and Tess ended up arriving to the airport, which was deserted, and waiting a week before realizing her family was dead. Stunned and scared into silence, she gathered her things and left.

**Other (Anything else you'd like to add, just in case): **Tess hates telling people her full name, normally sticking to first names, and she carries her stuff in a tan knapsack. She has a packet of batteries, a flashlight, a cheap lighter, empty flask for liquids, a bag half full of trail mix, a bloodied white handkerchief, and a crumpled, folded photo of her mother, father, siblings and her, a family photo that was taken at an amusement park that she, at the merry age of four, had insisted on taking home with her. Tess keeps the photograph as a reminder of happier times, constantly checking it in private and never letting anyone else glimpse at it. It is secured in the very bottom of her bag.

Well, that's Tess Blevins for you. Sorry if it's a little too long, or a mouthful to read, but sometimes I just go on and on…

Also, I'm not sure where the story should take place, so please tell me with your form where you'd like the setting to be, whether it be down south or up north. Keep in mind though if you vote for a foreign country (to me, that's outside the USA); I'm most likely going to get some facts wrong when writing. Just thought I should put that out there.

Submit your characters guys, either by sending me a PM or writing a review! Really excited to read what you guys have for me, so I'll try and post the next chapter when I have enough OCs!


	2. Chapter 2

**Hello reader! I'm excited to say that I've received a lot of submissions, so I'm posting this chapter to celebrate, I guess. So, I hope you enjoy!**

**I'm still accepting OCs, so please send me a form, whether you want to post a review or PM me!**

* * *

Tess liked to reason with herself sometimes, when she was all alone, with no one around to listen to her fear, formed into words and spoken aloud. She hated the weakness that lodged in her throat with a hard lump, hated the way she still involuntarily shuddered whenever the cold metal of her gun was pressed into her warm, beating pulse.

Tess was trying to say that she hated being afraid.

She always had, even before the world came crashing down, with everything she knew either gone or dead. Whenever they would tell ghost stories, back when she was younger, she used to want to curse herself for every goose bump that ran up her spine or every chill that crept down her arms; every dark thought that lingered in her mind even after everyone else had fallen asleep.

There was a time when she had been younger, maybe four, more or less, and her mother and she had been alone. It was a calming night, soothing and soft with nothing but her mother's even breaths and the blaring of the TV. Tess was curled up in her mother's body, practically sitting on her lap, resting her head on her chest. Her father had left at least an hour ago, mumbling about seeing a friend, making sure to kiss Tess goodbye. It had been after a fight, a screaming fit between her parents, whose relationship had been getting increasingly worse, and now her mother sat on the couch, honey blonde hair coiling around her neck in rich ringlets, creamy hazel eyes watering a little as she dabbed at them with perfectly manicured hands, pale skin catching her tears and wiping them away.

It was that night, when they had both fallen asleep on the couch, using each other as cushions, that their house had been broken into, robbed of prized possessions. Tess cracked one eye open to find a shadowy figure creeping around. It was unsettling, but she hadn't dared moved an inch, just sat pressed into her mother , squeezing her eyes shut and hoping that the burglar wouldn't hear her uneven breaths for fear that he would hurt her and her family. That was the night she had sat there, not wanting to open her eyes to see or wake her mother, just unmoving and silent and cold, like she was dead.

She had been scared that night, scared for her life, much like she was now.

But it was different now, because Tess had learned to veil that fear away. If people thought you weren't afraid, then they would become afraid of you. They'd call you heartless and cold, a merciless beast that was restrained by nothing, a hardened monster. Deep inside her own mind, in a place so secretive she wasn't even sure where it was herself; that was where she hid those feelings away, the emotions that used to guide her life so freely. She locked away her family and college, the bickering of her brothers, the way her father liked to lean back in his chair casually and her mother would fold her hands in her lap softly, in those years before things went south, before her father had left and before her mother would cry.

It was a dark night. Stars looked down on the duo, winking as the moonlight flowed down in billowing curtains, the moon waning into a tiny sliver of glowing light. The shadows looked so much more serene, no sound to be heard other than the buzzing in one's ears.

Cali just barely managed to open his eyes, lulled to sleep by the unusual quiet. He could make out his owner, resting in the shade of a tree, her back pressed into its thick wooden skin. The warmth in his body, his snow-white coat, was spread to her parallel legs, which were pressed up to his side. He tilted his head a little, watching his master nap soundly in the nighttime tranquility. Tess's face was so much calmer in sleep, her hair melting into the tree like gooey chocolate, had it not been for the serious tangles. He wanted this moment to last forever, to feel this calm for the rest of his days, Tess safe and serene. But, for now, he was content to have this one moment, to relax for these few precious seconds.

Tess's jaw was grinding now, eyebrows creased in conflict. She mumbled softly under her breath, an occasional curse or phrase audible to the German shepherd's erect ears. Her head would shake left and right, rolling on her shoulders, and her eyelids began to flutter faintly. This pattern continued until Tess's eyes shot open, wide and alert, before closing with a tired sigh. Using the back of her calloused hand, she placed it against her forehead, feeling for a temperature. Not feeling one, Tess noted Cali's eye, who was watching her, slate grey pupils directed at her face.

"I hate nightmares," Tess muttered to herself. Sitting upright, she patted his head, feeling his white fur and his bony structure, unhealthy and underfed, almost wanting to scoff at his loyalty towards her. In the night, with the moon barely illuminating her vision, the dog almost looked like he was glowing alongside the stars, opening his mouth to grin at her. She smiled, face softening and jaw unclenching before she corrected her features, setting her mouth stubbornly once again and getting up on her feet. After a moment of reluctance, her companion followed suit and sat obediently behind her feet.

"We wasted too much time. We have to go." she dusted off her arms, which was lined with pale scars that crisscrossed across her flesh. Stifling a yawn, she took just one second to look up at the black overhead, eyes reflecting the light the stars shone and her arms hanging limply by her sides. For a moment, her mind flashed back to everything, forbidden topics that were not meant to be discussed. Her mind came back to the present as Cali brushed up against her calf.

Sighing, she only stood there for a brief instant, and then she walked.

* * *

**Well, how'd you like it? Sorry for it being a little short, but it's sort of an introduction, more of a prologue than a chapter. So far, it's just my character (Tess) and Cali (easily the best character XD) so far, and I'll introduce more people in the next chapter. I'm proud of how this turned out, so I hope you liked this too! Got a bunch of forms that I'm excited to include and use! I'm still accepting, and I have a lot of people in their twenties, so if you have a child or a middle aged adult I'd greatly appreciate it so I could flesh out the group.**

**Also, you can submit baddies if you want to. So knock yourself out with that. I'd love the help and/or advice!**

**Again, thanks to all those who submitted (or will submit), and feel free to leave me a review to tell me how I did!**


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